Buzzard05

I actually agree with you 100% here. I always choose the pick my own option as we travel with our sons in a separate cabin and I like to pick the cabins close together. Paying that extra money is worth it to me. The only thing I can think of that happened here was (as somebody said) there was only one of that cabin left for you to choose from...therefore not really a "choice" so the site bypassed the cabin selection page. The $92 upcharge when you called may have been the cost to bump into the next cabin category where there were multiple cabins available that you could choose from. Whenever you select the "Let us choose your cabin" option, it says that they will choose that cabin category for you at a minimum. It there aren't any cabins of that category left at the time of cabin assignment you will get bumped up into the next available cabin category. In any event, I don't think you should swear off an entire means of vacationing just because you had a bad experience with one vendor. That is like me having a bad experience at McDonalds and swearing off all fast food. That would cause me to miss the wonder that is Chick Fil A. I would suggest checking out other cruise lines to see if there are any trips that interest you. As a hint...whenever you choose the "Pick my own" option...before you get to the payment screen, you are always presented with a page that shows you the available cabins to choose from in that category (it is usually the very next screen). If you don't get that option before it asks you for your payment information...try the booking again on the site...and then call if you still don't see it. Good luck and I hope you guys find a trip that you are excited about for your anniversary.....maybe it will be a cruise.

With Chops being an upscale restaurant onboard, and one that you normally "dress up" for in the evening....are there any dress requirements to eat there at lunch...or can you just roll in wearing shorts and a tee shirt?

Here are some photos of the Potomac river (that flows into the Chesapeake) from last weekend. I fish on this river a lot and have seen some low tides due to a N/NW wind...but nothing like this. To be honest, these pictures don't even do it justice. I happened to drive over the river last Saturday and was amazed at how far the water was out. They said the Chesapeake had low tides that were at least 4 feet below normal. http://thezebra.org/2018/03/04/alexandrias-potomac-blows-out-to-sea-due-to-high-winds/

We were concerned with all that we read about Jamaica prior to our cruise last year. We decided to book a day at the Royalton White Sands through a third party tour company and had a great time. In fact, after it was all said and done, my entire family said that was the most enjoyable day on our entire cruise.

Maybe the room is bigger?

A lot of these cruises do offer a 10 drink card during the cruise (usually about halfway through the cruise). I got one on our last cruise and it ended up being $93.00 with the gratuities added to it (I think it was listed at $75.00 + 18% gratuities.) That would definitely be good for one happy day! (I saw on another board where a lady was doing a live trip review on a ship...forget which one....and she said the drink cards are actually offered for the entire cruise, but only advertised about halfway through. She said that she went to a bartender on the first day and requested one and was able to purchase. Has anybody else ever seen/heard of this? Would be nice if it were true.) (EDIT - sorry...just saw your comment about the drink card...but leaving this post in case somebody can answer the question at the end.)

Thanks! Here is a link to that thread. Scroll down to psko's post for the instructions. It worked on Harmony earlier this year, I hope it works for you:

We did not sail on the Oasis, but on Harmony...so very similar. Here are some things that you might find useful: * Unless for transportation reasons, I wouldn't wait to get on the ship late, I would get on as early as I could in order to enjoy an extra day on the ship. These ships are HUGE and having that extra time allows you to get your bearings, as well as see and experience some of the cool stuff available, while it is less crowded. We were given a check-in time around noon, but arrived at 10:45 and were literally on the ship by 11:00. * There are more places to eat on that ship than you can actually do in a week...and most are covered by your cruise fare. That was actually one of the drawbacks I found on these huge ships. There would be a place that I liked to eat, but I wanted to try the other stuff too and never made it back to some of those places that I liked. * Lunch - Park Cafe was actually a very nice place to grab lunch. It was never crowded and had a pretty good selection of sandwiches and salads. * You might find it nice to splurge one night (or two) in one of the specialty restaurants. We did Chops Grille for dinner and Sabor for lunch and loved it. * When we went to book our My Time Dining, I kept getting a notice that I couldn't do that. However, a poster on here posted a workaround that allowed me to get in and do my scheduling. If you still have trouble, shoot me a message and I will see if I can find that post. * Check your cruise planner for when the shows become available to reserve. There are TONS of people on the ship wanting to see the same shows you do. Getting our reservations in for the times we wanted just gave me some peace of mind that we would be able to see everything on a schedule that suited us. With that said, plenty of people got into the shows without reservations...but you have to line up well before the show time and hope that you make it. On our sailing, Grease was the headliner, and it had an enormous line. I doubt everyone in that line got in. * As another poster suggested, you can go and order things like drink packages, internet, even excursions now and then keep checking the Cruise Planner. You may find things go on sale and you can just cancel your original purchase and re-buy. I did that with my drink package, internet, and some excursions on our trip (not huge savings...but savings nonetheless). * Check the Cruise Planner religiously for sales and for when things like show reservations become available. I would also book as much stuff online as possible and only use Guest Services or the Excursion Desk if I absolutely had to. Not that they give you bad service, actually just the opposite. However, there are lots of people on that ship and you will end up spending valuable vacation time standing in line to do something you could have done online. * Research the blog portion of this site (not just the message boards) for posts about the Oasis. You will find a ton of information out there that is kind of cool to know before you board.

My wife is sensitive to motion and gets the behind the ear patches and has never complained of feeling ill on the cruises we have been on. We also take some of the OTC medications with us just as a precaution, but never really needed them. Our first cruise (Navigator) we were mid-ship/middle deck and our last cruise (Harmony) we were on a high deck at the very back. Both locations worked well as my wife was fine on both. As for what is included, I am pretty sure you could pay your full fare, taxes, fees, and gratuities and not spend another dime and have a great trip. These ships have so many "free" places to eat that you really don't have to spend any additional money on food unless you want to. With that said, some of the specialty restaurants are pretty good and worth the cost if you want to "splurge". You can also check the lunch prices in these specialty restaurants as they are often (if not always) cheaper than dinner. I'm not sure how big of a drinker you guys are, but you should do the math on whether a drink package would be good for you. Somewhere on this site is a menu of the drink prices from this summer that will help you figure that out (there are also several drink package blog posts on here as well). Somebody already posted above on what the "standard" drinks are. If you only drink alcohol occasionally, then you might check the Royal Replenish package (I think that is what it is called). It is the non-alcoholic package that covers everything except alcohol and Starbucks (bought from a Starbucks kiosk). I was able to get that package on sale for both of our cruises for around $18.00/day. Watch the Cruise Planner after you book for "sales" they have on various items (such as drink packages, excursions, etc.) Even if you have already purchased an item (say an excursion) and it goes on sale for less....you can cancel the original booking and get the better price. You will find this board is a wealth of information, and people are extremely helpful in getting you the answers you need. Also check out the blog posts by clicking the "Home" tab at the top. There are TONS of good articles out there. Try searching on your ship (if you haven't already) to see if there are any posts specific to the Enchantment (in the forums and also on the Home tab). Sorry this was so long. Hope you guys have a great trip!

Not sure how much Red Stripe was going to cost you, but we did a day at the Royalton White Sands through a third party for $99 (including transportation) and it was a lot of fun...and only about 10 minutes from the port. This excursion also provided us with access to the Royalton Blue Waters...but we just stayed at White Sands all day.

I don't remember if any of the pools on Harmony had stairs or just ladders (I am only recalling ladders...but I may have just missed stairs). However, I am almost positive that one of the pools had a lift to assist people in and out of the pool.

We just got off Harmony a couple weeks ago and we had two rooms booked for my wife and I and two teenage sons. My wife and I were in an oceanview balcony at the rear of the ship on Deck 12 (12326) and the view from that balcony is just as everyone as described. It is very peaceful, you can see the islands as you come and go, and you don't have anybody peering across at you. My sons were in the last boardwalk balcony room on Deck 12 (12329) and I have to say I thought the views were spectacular out the back of the ship. I can see where the views would be "better" without the Abyss slide structure...but still an awesome view nonetheless (IF you are in one of the last few rooms, I am not sure it would be as great in the middle of that deck). That room was very close to the Aqua Theatre and the noise was not bad at all in there (even when they had shows going on). I also found it cool to watch the aqua shows from that vantage point (looking down) as you can see a lot of the stuff going on underwater that you can't see from the regular seats. And of course, it was always fun just to people watch down on the Boardwalk. I will say that when I would sit on their balcony, having people directly across from me on those balconies was a little bothersome (it is closer across there than you think). As for activities in the ports, we have been to Cozumel twice. The first time we did the speedboat / snorkel excursion (where you drive your own little mini-speedboat out to a place and then snorkel for a bit) and it was a lot of fun. This last time we did the ATV tour to Jade Caverns and it was also a good time. We picked those excursions more for our sons than for us....but we had a blast on both as well. In Falmouth we booked a day pass to the Royalton White Sands resort from a local excursion company. We really enjoyed that place as well. It was all-inclusive and you had full run of the place. The food was good...as were the drinks. We chose the Royalton due to it's location...it is only about 10 minutes from the port, where the other all-inclusives were 30 - 45 minutes away. I would book the shows as soon as you are able, that way you know that you are pretty much assured to have a seat (assuming you arrive on time). We saw some pretty long lines for people wanting to get into a show that didn't have a reservation. I have no idea how many of those people got into the shows or not. You can always change it up a bit once you get on board (you may not get a reservation, but you can go stand in the stand by line to try to see a show at a different time than you have scheduled. Also, not sure if Oasis has the Escape Room...but if they do, you should give it a try. It was a lot of fun! As for the drink package, it doesn't sound to me like you would get your "money's worth". I got the Refreshment Package for myself as I drink a ton of soda, but also like to get an occasional coffee drink (not from Starbucks) and that worked well for me. I would get a drink/beer or two each day and my OBC covered it. On about day four or five they offered a 10 drink card for $79.00 ($93.00 with the 18% gratuity) and found that to be a decent deal. What is nice about the drink card is that you can share it with your wife (meaning you both can use it to get drinks, unlike the drink package). Hope that info helps you a bit. Have a GREAT time on your cruise!

We just got off Harmony and our (teenage) boys had the last Boardwalk balcony on the 12th deck (12329) and loved it (we were directly across the hall in an oceanview balcony). The views out the back were awesome (even with the Abyss slide taking up some of it.) It was cool to be able to sit/stand on their balcony and watch the Aqua show as well as the guys in the control room right next to their balcony to see all of what was going on during the show (you can see the scuba divers swimming under the water in the pool from up that high). The noise wasn't overwhelming. The carousel wasn't loud at all. The only noise they heard in their room was when they were having a movie or a show in the Aqua Theatre, and even then it wasn't overpowering. Also, during most times they are having those shows, you are usually out and about anyway....so it really isn't that intrusive. With the door closed (and no show going on), you couldn't hear the normal noise from the Boardwalk at all. My kids never complained that their room was loud. The only drawback of the interior balcony is that you have people directly across from you, where on the outside balconies....you don't. If we ever cruise on an Oasis class ship again, getting that same room (or very close) will be very tempting....especially if it comes with some nice perks (as theirs did).

We just got off Harmony and our muster station was in the Aqua Theatre...which in Ft. Lauderdale in late July/early August was HOT (over 95 degrees that day and zero breeze). However, depending on your number, you could be in the shade. We were G4, and it was not in the shade. Several people finally had enough and were leaving by the dozens when they went to show that "movie".